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If anyone in America still believed there is no real difference between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, a dramatic and acrimonious first debate likely disabused them.

Hectoring and grimacing, Trump pressed a populist economic message that sought to portray Clinton as a do-nothing agent of a failed status quo. Clinton, smiling and quieter, painted Trump as a bigoted and dangerous charlatan with dark financial secrets and a long record of mistreating average people.

Recap: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump debate

Trump began the debate in his sweet spot: jobs and trade. But he seemed to falter as the night proceeded, taking Clinton’s bait on uncomfortable matters of race, gender and his business past.

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And Trump delivered the only lines that may turn into damaging gaffes. When Clinton noted that he cheered for the housing crisis because it could present a money-making opportunity for himself, he said, “That’s called business.” And when Clinton pointed out that he paid no income tax in some years, he said, “That makes me smart.”

Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton greet one another as they take the stage for their first debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, U.S. (JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS)

Speaking in generalities as usual, the businessman dispensed with direct answers in favour of angry attacks on a former senator and secretary of state he said has no solutions for a country in crisis.

“Typical politician, all talk, no action, sounds good, doesn’t work, never going to happen,” he said at one point. “Our country is suffering because people like Secretary Clinton have made such bad decisions in terms of our jobs and in terms of what’s going on.”

Trump, though, refused to explain what he would do to bring back the jobs he alleged that Clinton had chased away. (“First of all, you don’t let the companies leave,” he said when pressed.) And he struggled to explain the most damaging parts of his history, regularly resorting to lies when challenged by Clinton and moderator Lester Holt.

The biggest whopper: his repeated claim that he opposed the war in Iraq, which he supported until 17 months after the invasion.

Among other things, he also falsely claimed that New York has seen more murders since the city ended its stop-and-frisk police search program, that stop-and-frisk was not ruled unconstitutional, that he did not press the issue of President Barack Obama’s birthplace after 2011, that he never suggested he could renegotiate the country’s debt, and that he has never called climate change a Chinese hoax.

The debate arrived as Clinton’s once-formidable lead in national polls evaporated into a tiny edge averaging between one and two percentage points amid deep concerns about her honesty. Perhaps more troubling for her, polls in two of the most critical states, Colorado and Pennsylvania, have also tightened considerably.

Clinton, who appeared to grow stronger as the 90-minute clash unfolded, launched her sharpest attacks on three of Trump’s chief vulnerabilities: his refusal to release his tax returns, his record of sexist remarks, and his spotty record in dealing with and talking about racial minorities.

“You’ve got to ask yourself, why won’t he release his tax returns? And I think there may be a couple of reasons. First, maybe he’s not as rich as he says he is. Second, maybe he’s not as charitable as he claims to be,” she said.

Trump insisted, as usual, that he has been “under a routine audit” for years, a claim the U.S. tax authority has suggested is unlikely.

A CNN bus with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's faces was a popular spot for photos, outside the venue of their debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., (DAMON WINTER)

The debate, held at Hofstra University on Long Island, was merely the first of three. But the audience was expected to be the biggest for this one — and some analysts thought it might hit 100 million people — and strategists believed it would be the most important. David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, told the Washington Post that it was “75 per cent of the rest of the campaign.”

Clinton’s allies had feared that pundits would give her bombastic rival undue credit for showing a modicum of politeness and decorum. They needed not worry. The Trump who showed up in New York was the combative one who shows up at raucous rallies — a man with little regard for traditional conventions, prepared zingers, or the message discipline preferred by political professionals.

Clinton, who is almost as widely disliked as he is, adopted a far gentler strategy. Listening politely, she broke into a practised smile at the end of several of Trump’s rants.

“Why not,” she said at one point. “Just join the debate by saying more crazy things.”

Clinton depicted herself as a steady hand who could, unlike Trump, be trusted with nuclear weapons. She suggested his policies and temperament could produce a war with Iran and a nuclear war in Asia.

“I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate,” she said after he criticized her for not joining him on recent trips. “And yes, I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president. And I think that’s a good thing.”

Among their sharpest exchanges came on the subject of Trump’s years of advocating the nonsensical “birther” conspiracy about Obama. Trump, pressed on the matter for the first time since he acknowledged without explanation that Obama was born in America, claimed he did “a great job and a great service, not only for the country, but even for the president in getting him to produce his birth certificate.”

Clinton’s response began: “Just listen to what you heard.”

The audience laughed.

“It can’t be dismissed that easily,” she continued.

“He has really started his political activity based on this racist lie that our first black president was not an American citizen. There was absolutely no evidence for it, but he persisted. He persisted year after year, because some of his supporters, people that he was trying to bring into his fold, apparently believed it or wanted to believe it. But remember, Donald started his career back in 1973 being sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination.”

Trump did not seem ready for this. His response: “I settled that lawsuit with no admission of guilt. But that was a lawsuit brought against many real estate firms, and it’s just one of those things.”

Trump appeared strongest at the beginning of the debate, when he seized a question on jobs to denounce the North American Free Trade Agreement he promises to renegotiate and then tear up if he does not get what he is seeking from Canada and Mexico.

“We have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us. We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States and with it firing all of their people. All you have to do is take a look at Carrier air conditioning in Indianapolis. They are going to Mexico. So many hundreds and hundreds of companies are doing this. We cannot let it happen,” he said.

As has been the case all campaign, their differences were starkest on the question of race. Asked how he would heal the country’s racial divide, Trump jumped straight to crime.

“Secretary Clinton doesn’t want to use a couple of words. And that’s law and order,” he said. “We need law and order. If we don’t have it, we’re not going to have a country.” He went on to say that black and Hispanic people are “living in hell because it’s so dangerous.”

“You walk down the street, you get shot,” he said, repeating a frequent refrain.

Clinton, conversely, began with a paean to black achievement.

“It’s really unfortunate that he paints such a dire, negative picture of black communities in our country,” she said as Trump scoffed.

“Vibrancy of the black church. The black businesses that employ so many people. The opportunities that so many families are working to provide for their kids.” She continued by calling for criminal justice reform and “common sense” gun control.

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